The History of Pizza

By Cleona

Do you like pizza? Well I do. But I was always curious about its history.

The history of pizza begins in the ancient past, when various cultures produced basic flatbreads with several toppings. A very old type of pizza was focaccia, a flatbread known to the Romans as panis focacius, to which toppings were then added. Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, in the late 18th or early 19th century. That means pizza is REALLY old.

But wait, where did the name pizza come from? Well, the word pizza was first documented in 997 AD in Gaeta and successively in different parts of central and south Italy. Pizza was mainly eaten in Italy and by emigrants from there. This changed after World War II, when allied troops stationed in Italy came to enjoy pizza along with other Italian foods.

I hope you liked this article, but now I’m hungry for pizza!